In August, the Supreme Court placed abortion rights in the hands of the states, and with midterms just days away, voters across the country will have the chance to make their voice heard.
Here are the five states that have abortion on the ballot in this year’s midterms:
1. Abortion on the ballot in California
California’s Proposition 1 would amend the state constitution to say that the state cannot “deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions,” the bill reads. However, U.S. News reports that the law is more about the language of the bill, rather than the practice of abortion itself.
Whether or not voters decide to change the language of the bill on Tuesday, abortion will remain legal in the state, due to its protection from the California Supreme Court and state law.
2. Abortion on the ballot in Kentucky
The Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 2, unlike California’s law, will actually have a chance to dictate if abortion is a right in the state. On Kentucky ballots this year, voters will decide if the language of the state’s constitution should be changed to state that “nothing in the state constitution creates a right to abortion or requires government funding for abortion,” according to Ballotpedia.
3. Abortion on the ballot in Michigan
Voters in Michigan will weigh in on Proposal 3, which would amend the state’s constitution to say that abortion is a right within the state. U.S. News states that the vote will determine if an abortion ban from 1931 will stay in effect. If Proposal 3 is passed, Michigan will be the first state to permanently abolish an abortion ban since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
4. Abortion on the ballot in Montana
Montana’s LR-131, known as the Infant Alive Protection Act, will consider any infant born alive as a legal person, requiring any infant born at any stage of development to receive life-saving care immediately. This even includes the rare case of if a fetus were to survive an abortion. If medical care providers don’t comply with this law, they could face up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
What does this have to do with abortion? The bill states that it was created to protect infants who have survived an abortion, making it illegal to deny them life-saving medical care. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that instances of fetuses surviving abortions are very rare. In Minnesota, for example, out of over 10,000 abortions performed in 2021, only five of them resulted in a live birth, according to the state health department. None of the five fetuses survived.
The bill doesn’t only apply to fetuses that survive abortions, but also any fetus with a fatal diagnosis. Critics of the bill state that in such cases, medical professionals will “legally have to remove an infant from parents who might want to hold or baptize a baby that will not live, so they can perform lifesaving measures,” per U.S. News.
5. Abortion on the ballot in Vermont
Proposal 5 will amend Vermont’s state constitution to say that personal reproductive autonomy, including abortion and access to contraceptives, is a constitutional right. Although abortion is already legal in the state, this proposal would solidify that right in the state constitution.